


kreîos

by whatthedruidscallme



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Magic, Merthur - Freeform, Stars, This is so sappy, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, it's literally as sweet as candy im so sorry, why did I write this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 16:11:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20969360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatthedruidscallme/pseuds/whatthedruidscallme
Summary: Arthur just wants to see the stars, and he knows if anyone can bring them to him, it's Merlin.





	kreîos

“I can’t see them.”

“Can’t see what?”

“I can’t see the stars.”

“Well,” Merlin said, propping himself up on his elbows and looking up at the sky through bleary eyes, “I don’t think you’re supposed to. See, those huge fluffy things are called _clouds_, Arthur. They’re actually opaque, so we can’t see anyth—”

“Shut up,” Arthur said, shoving against Merlin’s shoulder, who snorted and fell back. “You promised stars.”

Merlin sighed. “You promised a carefree night, and so far all you’ve done is worry about nothing.”

“Hardly nothing…the state of council affairs are—”

“For daylight,” Merlin interrupted. “You said it would be like old times, that we could just lie here and sleep and nothing would bother us. We’re supposed to be dreaming, pretending the moon was crafted by faeries, listening to night noise and wondering if a dragon is going to come through those bushes. And here you are fretting about Leon.”

“I’m allowed to fret,” Arthur mumbled.

“Not with me you’re not. You do enough of that with everyone else.”

“I don’t suppose you could…” Arthur nudged him, looking with hopeful eyes.

“I could what?”

“You know. Move some clouds out of the way.”

Merlin laughed, the sound breaking across the night like cool water across a plain. “You want me to move some clouds out of the way just so you can see a star?”

“Come on…I knew you can do it,” Arthur coaxed. “I’ve seen you do worse.”

“Yes, you remember how I was after those little escapades of ours? Unless you want to be carrying me back to your chambers in an hour or so, I suggest you leave me alone.”

“Might not be that bad. You grew that one thing, you remember? Only took you, what, maybe ten minutes?”

“And three days to recover. You thought I was going to die, and insisted on bothering Gaius every hour of the day until I opened my eyes.”

“Oh yeah,” Arthur said, enlightenment returning to his eyes. “I forgot. I really was worried, wasn’t I?”

“I was shocked that you cared,” Merlin said dryly.

“Well…alright. If you really think you can’t do it.”

There was a pause in which the chorus of night things swelled, the sound of the nearby stream was louder and the wind whistled through the trees. Arthur waited with baited breath until Merlin’s quiet voice broke through again with a distinct sense of losing the battle, and he grinned at the sound.

“Okay, fine. But not here.”

“What?” he asked, somewhat surprised. “Why not here, there’s no one around.”

“Because I have a better idea, you great greedy prat,” Merlin said acidly. “Come on, we’re going back to your chambers.”

“Back to my chambers?” Arthur repeated, but still got up and wobbled unsteadily after Merlin as he moved through the trees.

“I knew you had too much to drink tonight,” he heard Merlin mutter.

“No such thing!” he said indignantly. “I hardly had three drinks before you pulled me away from the table.”

“Oh please, don’t pretend you didn’t down a couple when I left for the kitchen.”

The argument continued in bursts and spurts until they reached the castle and trudged up winding staircases, growing steadily louder and waking half the castle before they finally found Arthur’s door and stumbled through it.

“There,” Arthur said with a huff, throwing himself onto his bed. “We got where you wanted. Happy now?”

Merlin shut the door behind him and turned to face Arthur, his eyes sparking with foreign excitement. “Okay, get on the floor.”

“The _floor_?” Arthur whined, more to antagonize Merlin than to really complain.

“Yes, the floor,” Merlin said, and sat down on the hardwood near the hearth, crossing his legs. He muttered something under his breath too fast to catch, and suddenly the fire was doused and they were plunged into darkness.

“Hey!” Arthur said, and sputtered when a thin hand gripped around his wrist and dragged him down to the floor.

“Okay,” Merlin said. “I’ve only done this once, so you’ll have to be patient.”

“Done…what once?” he asked, utterly bewildered, but Merlin ignored him. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He stretched one hand up to the ceiling and said something long, ancient, and incomprehensible, and Arthur barely caught the sliver of gold glowing as his eyelids fluttered.

Above him, the ceiling began to burn with a cold, distant light.

Musical spells spilled out of Merlin’s mouth and the ceiling grew brighter as Arthur watched, jaw hanging open. Points of light like blue embers began to spark like matches striking and threads of silvery light draped themselves around the room, curling around the bedposts and twisting into elaborate constellations in the air. They hung there, glittering, and it wasn’t until a yellow crescent of a moon began to glow in the far corner of his room that Arthur understood.

“The stars,” he said dazedly. “You…you’re showing me the stars.”

The light was still dim, but Arthur thought he saw a smile tugging at Merlin’s lips as he continued breathing spells, and more and more of the night sky began to glow into being around them.

Arthur watched, entranced, and hardly noticed when Merlin was finally quiet. His eyes opened and a real smile crossed his mouth now as he watched the sky reflect in Arthur’s eyes.

They were inside of a glowing sphere, a halo of constellations and colours and trembling stars surrounded them. Even the floor flickered faintly, as though blue light was showing in through the cracks in the wood. Tiny northern lights floated just in front of the hearth with whimsical green and gold and purple, drifting away when Arthur reached out to touch one.

“Beautiful,” he breathed, marvelling, and Merlin leaned his head on his shoulder. “You think so?”

He automatically put an arm around the sorcerer’s shoulders, still drinking in the night stars that lived in his room. “Unbelievable.” He pressed a kiss to Merlin’s dark hair, who hummed happily. “I didn’t know you could do something like this,” he said, and felt him shrug. “You wanted to see the stars. I wasn’t about to change the atmosphere to do it.”

“So you took the stars from the sky and put them in my room. Other people are going to miss them, you know.”

“Mm, I don’t think so…besides, I’m too tired to put them back,” Merlin said drowsily.

“You need to stop doing spells that take so much out of you,” Arthur said, and waited for a response but none were forthcoming; Merlin was already asleep on his shoulder.

One by one, the stars popped out of existence, and Arthur watched them go. He held his sorcerer closer as the sky dissolved back into the woodwork, thready blue light rushing into Merlin’s body, sighing as all that power hid itself back away. For a split second Merlin’s skin crackled, inspired like joyful lightning, so bright it showed through the tips of his fingers, and then it was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has any requests, please comment or message me on tumblr at what-the-druids-call-me :) thanks for reading!!


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